Making Sense of State School Funding Policy

Secondary tabs

Abstract

State policymakers throughout the country are enacting or considering major reforms to how they fund public schools. School funding policy is complicated, in part because districts can respond in ways that may counteract state policymakers’ goals. This report provides an overview of how state school funding policy works, including how states measure student and district needs, how funding formulas divide responsibility between state and local revenue sources, and how different components of funding policy interact.